Control Information Transmission Method, Related Apparatus, and Computer Storage Medium

ABSTRACT

A control information transmission method, apparatus, and systems are disclosed. An example method includes: determining configuration information of a control channel, wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of frequency domain information or time domain information, the at least one of frequency domain information or time domain information indicates a time-frequency resource occupied by the control channel, and the configuration information further comprises indication information indicating a quantity of at least one resource element set, wherein the time-frequency resource occupied by the control channel comprises the at least one resource element set; mapping control information to one or more of the at least one resource element set based on the configuration information; sending the configuration information to a terminal device; and sending the control information to the terminal device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2018/085709, filed on May 4, 2018, which claims priority toChinese Patent Application No. 201710309765.7, filed on May 4, 2017. Thedisclosures of the aforementioned applications are hereby incorporatedby reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of this application relate to the communications field, andin particular, to a control information transmission method, a relatedapparatus, and a computer storage medium.

BACKGROUND

In a mobile communications system, a network device sends controlinformation and a reference signal on a time-frequency resource in whicha downlink control channel corresponding to a terminal device islocated. In the prior art, a location of a time-frequency resource forthe reference signal is predefined. The terminal device receives thereference signal based on the location of the time-frequency resourcefor the reference signal, performs channel estimation based on thereceived reference signal, and then demodulates the control informationbased on a result of channel estimation.

In the prior art, reference signals are distributed in an entiretime-frequency resource area in which control information is located.FIG. 1 is an example schematic structural diagram of distributingreference signals in a time-frequency resource area in which a controlchannel is located in the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, a horizontalcoordinate represents time domain, a vertical coordinate representsfrequency domain, and a first physical resource block 101, a secondphysical resource block 102, and a third physical resource block 103 areincluded in a frequency domain direction. Each physical resource blockoccupies 12 contiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain, and mayoccupy a plurality of contiguous symbols, for example, seven contiguoussymbols, in the time domain. If a subcarrier on a first symbol is usedto carry information about a control channel, regardless of whether aphysical resource block corresponding to the first symbol carriescontrol information, the physical resource block carries a referencesignal. As shown in FIG. 1, the second physical resource block 102carries no control information, but a reference signal is still sent onthe second physical resource block. In the technology, reference signaldensity is excessively high, causing a resource waste.

To avoid the resource waste problem in the prior art shown in FIG. 1,FIG. 1a is an example schematic structural diagram of distributingreference signals in a time-frequency resource area in which a controlchannel is located in the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1a , because asecond physical resource block 102 carries no control information, noreference signal is sent on the second physical resource block. However,due to an excessively small quantity of reference signals in a physicalresource block in the technology, when channel estimation is performedbased on the reference signals in the physical resource block, accuracyof a result of channel estimation is reduced.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of this application provide a control informationtransmission method, a related apparatus, and a computer storage medium,to improve channel estimation accuracy without increasing referencesignal density.

According to a first aspect, an embodiment of this application providesa control information transmission method, including: determiningconfiguration information of a control channel, where the configurationinformation includes frequency domain information and/or time domaininformation used to indicate a time-frequency resource occupied by thecontrol channel, and indication information used to indicate at leastone resource element set, wherein the time-frequency resource occupiedby the control channel includes the at least one resource element set;mapping control information to one or more of the at least one resourceelement set based on the configuration information; sending theconfiguration information to a terminal device; and sending the controlinformation to the terminal device.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes frequency domain information and/or timedomain information of the at least one resource element set.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes pattern information of the at least oneresource element set.

Optionally, each of the at least one resource element set includes tworesource element groups, three resource element groups, or six resourceelement groups, where each of the resource element groups occupies onecontiguous symbol in time domain, and occupies 12 contiguous subcarriersin frequency domain.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes a quantity of contiguous resource elementgroups included in a resource element set in the time domain.

Optionally, each one of the at least one resource element set includestwo resource element groups, where the two resource element groupsoccupy one OFDM symbol in the time domain, and occupy two contiguousresource blocks in the frequency domain.

Optionally, each one of the at least one resource element set includessix resource element groups, where the six resource element groupsoccupy one OFDM symbol in the time domain, and occupy six contiguousresource blocks in the frequency domain.

Optionally, each one of the at least one resource element set includestwo resource element groups, where the two resource element groupsoccupy two contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, and occupy onephysical resource block in the frequency domain.

Optionally, each one of the at least one resource element set includessix resource element groups, where the six resource element groupsoccupy two contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, and occupy threecontiguous resource blocks in the frequency domain.

Optionally, each one of the at least one resource element set includesthree resource element groups, where the three resource element groupsoccupy three contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, and occupy oneresource block in the frequency domain.

Optionally, each one of the at least one resource element set includessix resource element groups, where the six resource element groupsoccupy three contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, and occupy twocontiguous resource blocks in the frequency domain.

Optionally, the configuration information is sent to the terminal deviceby using higher layer signaling, and the higher layer signaling is RRCsignaling or system information.

Optionally, the mapping control information to one or more of the atleast one resource element set based on the configuration informationincludes: performing mapping based on an index of the resource elementset and/or an index of a resource element group included in the resourceelement set.

Optionally, the index of the resource element set corresponds to asymbol and a subcarrier number of at least one resource element in theresource element set.

Optionally, the index of the resource element group corresponds to asymbol and a subcarrier number of at least one resource element in theresource element group.

Optionally, the configuration information further includes at least oneof the following content: indication information of resources occupiedin the time domain and the frequency domain by each resource elementgroup included in each of the at least one resource element set;indication information of a mapping manner for the control information,where the mapping manner includes a time-first manner or afrequency-first manner; and a power ratio of control information to areference signal in a resource element set, to which the controlinformation is mapped, of the at least one resource element set.

Optionally, the mapping control information to one or more of the atleast one resource element set based on the configuration informationincludes: mapping the control information and a reference signal to theone or more of the at least one resource element set based on theconfiguration information, where the reference signal is mapped to oneor more resource elements in a resource element set including thecontrol information.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment of this application providesa control information transmission method, including: receivingconfiguration information sent by a network device, where theconfiguration information includes frequency domain information and/ortime domain information used to indicate a time-frequency resourceoccupied by a control channel, and indication information used toindicate at least one resource element set, wherein the time-frequencyresource occupied by the control channel includes the at least oneresource element set; and monitoring the control channel based on theconfiguration information, to obtain control information mapped to oneor more of the at least one resource element set, where the controlinformation is carried on the one or more of the at least one resourceelement set.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes frequency domain information and/or timedomain information of the at least one resource element set.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes pattern information of the at least oneresource element set.

Optionally, each of the at least one resource element set includes tworesource element groups, three resource element groups, or six resourceelement groups, where each of the resource element groups occupies onecontiguous symbol in time domain, and occupies 12 contiguous subcarriersin frequency domain.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes a quantity of resource element groupsincluded in a resource element set in the time domain.

Optionally, each one of the at least one resource element set includestwo resource element groups, where the two resource element groupsoccupy one OFDM symbol in the time domain, and occupy two contiguousresource blocks in the frequency domain.

Optionally, each one of the at least one resource element set includessix resource element groups, where the six resource element groupsoccupy one OFDM symbol in the time domain, and occupy six contiguousresource blocks in the frequency domain.

Optionally, each one of the at least one resource element set includestwo resource element groups, where the two resource element groupsoccupy two contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, and occupy onephysical resource block in the frequency domain.

Optionally, each one of the at least one resource element set includessix resource element groups, where the six resource element groupsoccupy two contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, and occupy threecontiguous resource blocks in the frequency domain.

Optionally, each one of the at least one resource element set includesthree resource element groups, where the three resource element groupsoccupy three contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, and occupy oneresource block in the frequency domain.

Optionally, each one of the at least one resource element set includessix resource element groups, where the six resource element groupsoccupy three contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, and occupy twocontiguous resource blocks in the frequency domain.

Optionally, the configuration information is received from the networkdevice by using higher layer signaling, and the higher layer signalingis RRC signaling or system information.

Optionally, the monitoring the control channel based on theconfiguration information, to obtain control information mapped to oneor more of the at least one resource element set includes: monitoringthe control channel of a terminal device based on the configurationinformation and an index of the resource element set and/or an index ofa resource element group included in the resource element set, to obtainthe control information mapped to the one or more of the at least oneresource element set.

Optionally, the index of the resource element set corresponds to asymbol and a subcarrier number of at least one resource element in theresource element set.

Optionally, the index of the resource element group corresponds to asymbol and a subcarrier number of at least one resource element in theresource element group.

Optionally, the configuration information further includes at least oneof the following content: indication information of a mapping manner forthe control information, where the mapping manner includes a time-firstmanner or a frequency-first manner; and a power ratio of controlinformation to a reference signal in a resource element set, to whichthe control information is mapped, of the at least one resource elementset.

Optionally, the monitoring the control channel based on theconfiguration information, to obtain control information mapped to oneor more of the at least one resource element set includes: monitoringthe control channel based on the configuration information, to obtainthe control information mapped to the one or more of the at least oneresource element set, and obtain a reference signal mapped to one ormore resource elements in a resource element set including the controlinformation.

According to a third aspect, an embodiment of this application providesa communications apparatus. The apparatus may be a network device, ormay be a chip in a network device. The apparatus may include aprocessing unit and a transceiver unit. When the apparatus is a networkdevice, the processing unit may be a processor, and the transceiver unitmay be a transceiver. The network device may further include a storageunit. The storage unit may be a memory. The storage unit is configuredto store an instruction, and the processing unit executes theinstruction stored in the storage unit, so that the network deviceperforms the method in the first aspect or any implementation of thefirst aspect. When the apparatus is a chip in a network device, theprocessing unit may be a processor, and the transceiver unit may be aninput/output interface, a pin, a circuit, or the like. The processingunit executes an instruction stored in a storage unit, so that thenetwork device performs the method in the first aspect or anyimplementation of the first aspect. The storage unit may be a storageunit (for example, a register or a buffer) in the chip, or may be astorage unit (for example, a read-only memory or a random-access memory)in the network device and outside the chip.

According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment of this application providesa communications apparatus. The apparatus may be a terminal device, ormay be a chip in a terminal device. The apparatus may include aprocessing unit and a transceiver unit. When the apparatus is a terminaldevice, the processing unit may be a processor, and the transceiver unitmay be a transceiver. The terminal device may further include a storageunit. The storage unit may be a memory. The storage unit is configuredto store an instruction, and the processing unit executes theinstruction stored in the storage unit, so that the terminal deviceperforms the method in the second aspect or any implementation of thesecond aspect. When the apparatus is a chip in a terminal device, theprocessing unit may be a processor, and the transceiver unit may be aninput/output interface, a pin, a circuit, or the like. The processingunit executes an instruction stored in a storage unit, so that theterminal device performs the method in the second aspect or anyimplementation of the second aspect. The storage unit may be a storageunit (for example, a register or a buffer) in the chip, or may be astorage unit (for example, a read-only memory or a random-access memory)in the terminal device and outside the chip.

According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of this application providesa communications apparatus, where the apparatus includes a processor anda storage medium, the storage medium stores an instruction, and when theinstruction is run by the processor, the processor performs the methodin the first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect. Theapparatus may be a chip or a chip system.

According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of this application providesa communications apparatus, where the apparatus includes a processor anda storage medium, the storage medium stores an instruction, and when theinstruction is run by the processor, the processor performs the methodin the second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect. Theapparatus may be a chip or a chip system.

According to a seventh aspect, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a computer storage medium, where the computer storage mediumstores a computer executable instruction, and when the computerexecutable instruction is invoked by a computer, the computer performsthe method in the first aspect or any implementation of the firstaspect.

According to an eighth aspect, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a computer storage medium, where the computer storage mediumstores a computer executable instruction, and when the computerexecutable instruction is invoked by a computer, the computer performsthe method in the second aspect or any implementation of the secondaspect.

According to a ninth aspect, an embodiment of this application providesa computer program product, where the computer program product includescomputer program code, and when the computer program code is run by acommunications device, the communications device performs the method inthe first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect.

According to a tenth aspect, an embodiment of this application providesa computer program product, where the computer program product includescomputer program code, and when the computer program code is run by acommunications device, the communications device performs the method inthe second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect.

According to an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a control information transmission method, including:determining, by a network device, configuration information of a controlchannel, where the configuration information includes frequency domaininformation and/or time domain information used to indicate atime-frequency resource occupied by the control channel, and includesindication information used to indicate at least one resource elementset, wherein the time-frequency resource occupied by the control channelincludes the at least one resource element set; mapping, by the networkdevice, control information to one or more of the at least one resourceelement set based on the configuration information; and sending, by thenetwork device, the configuration information to a terminal device, andsending the control information to the terminal device. That theconfiguration information includes frequency domain information and/ortime domain information used to indicate a time-frequency resourceoccupied by the control channel specifically means that theconfiguration information may include the time domain information, orinclude the frequency domain information, or include the frequencydomain information and the time domain information.

Because the network device maps the control information to the one ormore of the at least one resource element set based on the configurationinformation, the terminal device can perform joint channel estimationbased on all reference signals included in a resource element set. Aquantity of reference signals used in channel estimation is increased,and therefore channel estimation accuracy is improved without increasingreference signal density.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes frequency domain information and/or timedomain information of the at least one resource element set. Forexample, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set may specifically indicate a symbol and a subcarrierthat are occupied by a resource element set. Optionally, the indicationinformation used to indicate the at least one resource element setincludes pattern information of the at least one resource element set.For example, some resource element set patterns are preset, and eachpattern of resource element set occupies a fixed symbol and subcarrier.Optionally, each pattern of resource element set may have a piece ofpattern information, and the pattern information is used to uniquelyindicate the pattern of resource element set. For example, patterninformation of a resource element set may be an identifier of theresource element set. In this way, a resource element set can be moreflexibly configured for each terminal device.

Optionally, each of the at least one resource element set includes atleast one resource element group, where the resource element groupoccupies one contiguous symbol in time domain, and occupies 12contiguous subcarriers in frequency domain. Optionally, the indicationinformation used to indicate the at least one resource element setincludes at least one of information about a resource element groupincluded in the at least one resource element set in the frequencydomain and information about a resource element group included in the atleast one resource element set in the time domain. In a first optionalimplementation, the indication information used to indicate the at leastone resource element set includes the information about the resourceelement group included in the at least one resource element set in thefrequency domain and the information about the resource element groupincluded in the at least one resource element set in the time domain. Ina second optional implementation, the indication information used toindicate the at least one resource element set includes the informationabout the resource element group included in the at least one resourceelement set in the frequency domain, and information about a resourceelement group included in a resource element set in the time domain maybe preset or agreed on in another manner or the like. In a thirdoptional implementation, the indication information used to indicate theat least one resource element set includes the information about theresource element group included in the at least one resource element setin the time domain, and information about a resource element groupincluded in a resource element set in the frequency domain may be presetor agreed on in another manner or the like.

Optionally, each one of the at least one resource element set includesat least one of the following: the resource element set includes a firstresource element group; the resource element set includes a secondresource element group and a third resource element group, where thesecond resource element group and the third resource element groupoccupy a same symbol in the time domain, and occupy contiguoussubcarriers in the frequency domain; the resource element set includes afourth resource element group, a fifth resource element group, and asixth resource element group, where the fourth resource element group,the fifth resource element group, and the sixth resource element groupoccupy a same symbol in the time domain, and occupy contiguoussubcarriers in the frequency domain; the resource element set includes aseventh resource element group, an eighth resource element group, aninth resource element group, a tenth resource element group, aneleventh resource element group, and a twelfth resource element group,where the seventh resource element group, the eighth resource elementgroup, the ninth resource element group, the tenth resource elementgroup, the eleventh resource element group, and the twelfth resourceelement group occupy a same symbol in the time domain, and occupycontiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain; the resource element setincludes a thirteenth resource element group and a fourteenth resourceelement group, where the thirteenth resource element group and thefourteenth resource element group occupy contiguous symbols in the timedomain, and occupy a same subcarrier in the frequency domain; theresource element set includes a fifteenth resource element group, asixteenth resource element group, a seventeenth resource element group,an eighteenth resource element group, a nineteenth resource elementgroup, and a twentieth resource element group, where the fifteenthresource element group, the sixteenth resource element group, and theseventeenth resource element group occupy a same symbol in the timedomain, and occupy contiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain; theeighteenth resource element group, the nineteenth resource elementgroup, and the twentieth resource element group occupy a same symbol inthe time domain, and occupy contiguous subcarriers in the frequencydomain; the fifteenth resource element group and the eighteenth resourceelement group occupy a same subcarrier in the frequency domain, andoccupy contiguous symbols in the time domain; the sixteenth resourceelement group and the nineteenth resource element group occupy a samesubcarrier in the frequency domain, and occupy contiguous symbols in thetime domain; and the seventeenth resource element group and thetwentieth resource element group occupy a same subcarrier in thefrequency domain, and occupy contiguous symbols in the time domain; theresource element set includes a twenty-first resource element group, atwenty-second resource element group, and a twenty-third resourceelement group, where the twenty-first resource element group, thetwenty-second resource element group, and the twenty-third resourceelement group occupy contiguous symbols in the time domain, and occupy asame subcarrier in the frequency domain; and the resource element setincludes a twenty-fourth resource element group, a twenty-fifth resourceelement group, a twenty-sixth resource element group, a twenty-seventhresource element group, a twenty-eighth resource element group, and atwenty-ninth resource element group, where the twenty-fourth resourceelement group, the twenty-sixth resource element group, and thetwenty-eighth resource element group occupy contiguous symbols in thetime domain, and occupy a same subcarrier in the frequency domain; thetwenty-fifth resource element group, the twenty-seventh resource elementgroup, and the twenty-ninth resource element group occupy contiguoussymbols in the time domain, and occupy a same subcarrier in thefrequency domain; the twenty-fourth resource element group and thetwenty-fifth resource element group occupy contiguous subcarriers in thefrequency domain, and occupy a same symbol in the time domain; thetwenty-sixth resource element group and the twenty-seventh resourceelement group occupy contiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain, andoccupy a same symbol in the time domain; and the twenty-eighth resourceelement group and the twenty-ninth resource element group occupycontiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain, and occupy a same symbolin the time domain.

Optionally, the mapping, by the network device, control information toone or more of the at least one resource element set based on theconfiguration information includes: performing, by the network device,mapping based on at least one of an index of the resource element setand an index of a resource element group included in the resourceelement set. Optionally, the index of the resource element setcorresponds to a symbol and a subcarrier number of at least one resourceelement in the resource element set. Optionally, the index of theresource element group corresponds to a symbol and a subcarrier numberof at least one resource element in the resource element group. In thisway, interleaving can be performed based on the index of the resourceelement group or the resource element set, so that the controlinformation is distributed wider in the frequency domain and/or the timedomain, and a larger diversity gain is obtained.

Optionally, the configuration information further includes at least oneof the following content: indication information of resources occupiedin the time domain and the frequency domain by each resource elementgroup included in each of the at least one resource element set;indication information of a mapping manner for the control information,where the mapping manner includes a time-first manner or afrequency-first manner; and a power ratio of control information to areference signal in a resource element set, to which the controlinformation is mapped, of the at least one resource element set. In thisway, the network device can more flexibly configure various informationfor the terminal device, so that the terminal device can more accuratelyperform channel estimation.

Optionally, the mapping, by the network device, control information toone or more of the at least one resource element set based on theconfiguration information includes: mapping, by the network device, thecontrol information and a reference signal to the one or more of the atleast one resource element set based on the configuration information,where the reference signal is mapped to one or more resource elements ina resource element set including the control information. In this way,resource wastes caused by sending of excessive reference signals can bereduced.

According to a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a control information transmission method, including:receiving, by a terminal device, configuration information sent by anetwork device, where the configuration information includes frequencydomain information and/or time domain information used to indicate atime-frequency resource occupied by a control channel, and includesindication information used to indicate at least one resource elementset, wherein the time-frequency resource occupied by the control channelincludes the at least one resource element set; and monitoring, by theterminal device, the control channel based on the configurationinformation, to obtain control information mapped to one or more of theat least one resource element set, where the control information iscarried on the one or more of the at least one resource element set.That the configuration information includes frequency domain informationand/or time domain information used to indicate a time-frequencyresource occupied by the control channel specifically means that theconfiguration information may include the time domain information, orinclude the frequency domain information, or include the frequencydomain information and the time domain information.

Because the network device maps the control information to the one ormore of the at least one resource element set based on the configurationinformation, the terminal device can perform joint channel estimationbased on all reference signals included in a resource element set. Aquantity of reference signals used in channel estimation is increased,and therefore channel estimation accuracy is improved without increasingreference signal density.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes frequency domain information and/or timedomain information of the at least one resource element set. Forexample, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set may specifically indicate a symbol and a subcarrierthat are occupied by a resource element set. Optionally, the indicationinformation used to indicate the at least one resource element setincludes pattern information of the at least one resource element set.Optionally, each of the at least one resource element set includes atleast one resource element group, where the resource element groupoccupies one contiguous symbol in time domain, and occupies 12contiguous subcarriers in frequency domain. For example, some resourceelement set patterns are preset, and each pattern of resource elementset occupies a fixed symbol and subcarrier. Optionally, each pattern ofresource element set may have a piece of pattern information, and thepattern information is used to uniquely indicate the pattern of resourceelement set. For example, pattern information of a resource element setmay be an identifier of the resource element set. In this way, aresource element set can be more flexibly configured for each terminaldevice.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes at least one of information about aresource element group included in the at least one resource element setin the frequency domain and information about a resource element groupincluded in the at least one resource element set in the time domain. Ina first optional implementation, the indication information used toindicate the at least one resource element set includes the informationabout the resource element group included in the at least one resourceelement set in the frequency domain and the information about theresource element group included in the at least one resource element setin the time domain. In a second optional implementation, the indicationinformation used to indicate the at least one resource element setincludes the information about the resource element group included inthe at least one resource element set in the frequency domain, andinformation about a resource element group included in a resourceelement set in the time domain may be preset or agreed on in anothermanner or the like. In a third optional implementation, the indicationinformation used to indicate the at least one resource element setincludes the information about the resource element group included inthe at least one resource element set in the time domain, andinformation about a resource element group included in a resourceelement set in the frequency domain may be preset or agreed on inanother manner or the like.

Optionally, a structure pattern of each one of the at least one resourceelement set is similar to that in the first aspect, and details are notdescribed herein again.

Optionally, if the control information is mapped by the network devicebased on an index of the resource element set and an index of a resourceelement group included in the resource element set, the monitoring, bythe terminal device, the control channel based on the configurationinformation, to obtain control information mapped to one or more of theat least one resource element set includes: monitoring, by the terminaldevice, the control channel of the terminal device based on theconfiguration information, the index of the resource element set, andthe index of the resource element group included in the resource elementset, to obtain the control information mapped to the one or more of theat least one resource element set. If the control information is mappedby the network device based on an index of the resource element set, themonitoring, by the terminal device, the control channel based on theconfiguration information, to obtain control information mapped to oneor more of the at least one resource element set includes: monitoring,by the terminal device, the control channel of the terminal device basedon the configuration information and the index of the resource elementset, to obtain the control information mapped to the one or more of theat least one resource element set. If the control information is mappedby the network device based on an index of a resource element groupincluded in the resource element set, the monitoring, by the terminaldevice, the control channel based on the configuration information, toobtain control information mapped to one or more of the at least oneresource element set includes: monitoring, by the terminal device, thecontrol channel of the terminal device based on the configurationinformation and the index of the resource element group included in theresource element set, to obtain the control information mapped to theone or more of the at least one resource element set.

Optionally, the index of the resource element set corresponds to asymbol and a subcarrier number of at least one resource element in theresource element set. Optionally, the index of the resource elementgroup corresponds to a symbol and a subcarrier number of at least oneresource element in the resource element group. In this way,interleaving can be performed based on the index of the resource elementgroup or the resource element set, so that the control information isdistributed wider in the frequency domain and/or the time domain, and alarger diversity gain is obtained.

Optionally, the configuration information further includes at least oneof the following content: indication information of a mapping manner forthe control information, where the mapping manner includes a time-firstmanner or a frequency-first manner; and a power ratio of controlinformation to a reference signal in a resource element set, to whichthe control information is mapped, of the at least one resource elementset. In this way, the network device can more flexibly configure variousinformation for the terminal device, so that the terminal device canmore accurately perform channel estimation.

Optionally, the monitoring, by the terminal device, the control channelbased on the configuration information, to obtain control informationmapped to one or more of the at least one resource element set includes:monitoring, by the terminal device, the control channel based on theconfiguration information, to obtain the control information mapped tothe one or more of the at least one resource element set, and obtain areference signal mapped to one or more resource elements in a resourceelement set including the control information. In this way, resourcewastes caused by sending of excessive reference signals can be reduced.

According to a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a network device, where the network device includes a memory, atransceiver, and a processor, where the memory is configured to store aninstruction, the processor is configured to execute the instructionstored in the memory, and control the transceiver to receive and sendsignals, and when the processor executes the instruction stored in thememory, the network device is configured to perform the method in theeleventh aspect or any implementation of the eleventh aspect.

According to a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a terminal device, where the terminal device includes a memory,a transceiver, and a processor, where the memory is configured to storean instruction, the processor is configured to execute the instructionstored in the memory, and control the transceiver to receive and sendsignals, and when the processor executes the instruction stored in thememory, the terminal device is configured to perform the method in thetwelfth aspect or any implementation of the twelfth aspect.

According to a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a network device, configured to implement the method in theeleventh aspect or any implementation of the eleventh aspect, andincluding corresponding function modules respectively configured toimplement steps in the method.

According to a sixteenth aspect, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a terminal device, configured to implement the method in thetwelfth aspect or any implementation of the twelfth aspect, andincluding corresponding function modules respectively configured toimplement steps in the method.

According to a seventeenth aspect, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a computer storage medium, where the computer storage mediumstores an instruction, and when the instruction runs on a computer, thecomputer performs the method in the eleventh aspect or anyimplementation of the eleventh aspect.

According to an eighteenth aspect, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a computer storage medium, where the computer storage mediumstores an instruction, and when the instruction runs on a computer, thecomputer performs the method in the twelfth aspect or any implementationof the twelfth aspect.

According to a nineteenth aspect, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a computer program product including an instruction, where whenthe instruction runs on a computer, the computer performs the method inthe eleventh aspect or any implementation of the eleventh aspect.

According to a twentieth aspect, an embodiment of this applicationprovides a computer program product including an instruction, where whenthe instruction runs on a computer, the computer performs the method inthe twelfth aspect or any implementation of the twelfth aspect.

In the embodiments of this application, the network device determinesthe configuration information of the control channel, where theconfiguration information includes at least one of the frequency domaininformation and the time domain information used to indicate thetime-frequency resource occupied by the control channel, and includesthe indication information used to indicate the at least one resourceelement set, wherein the time-frequency resource occupied by the controlchannel includes the at least one resource element set; the networkdevice maps the control information to the one or more of the at leastone resource element set based on the configuration information; and thenetwork device sends the configuration information to the terminaldevice, and sends the control information to the terminal device.Because the network device maps the control information to the one ormore of the at least one resource element set based on the configurationinformation, the terminal device can perform joint channel estimationbased on all reference signals included in a resource element set. Aquantity of reference signals used in channel estimation is increased,and therefore channel estimation accuracy is improved without increasingreference signal density.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of distributing referencesignals in a time-frequency resource area in which a control channel islocated in the prior art;

FIG. 1a is another schematic structural diagram of distributingreference signals in a time-frequency resource area in which a controlchannel is located in the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture to which anembodiment of this application is applicable;

FIG. 2a is a schematic structural diagram of a radio frame transmittedbetween a network device and a terminal according to an embodiment ofthis application;

FIG. 2b is a schematic structural diagram of a subframe transmittedbetween a network device and a terminal according to an embodiment ofthis application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a control information transmissionmethod according to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 4a is a schematic structural diagram of a resource element groupincluded in a resource element set according to an embodiment of thisapplication;

FIG. 4b is a schematic structural diagram of a resource element groupincluded in another resource element set according to an embodiment ofthis application;

FIG. 4c is a schematic structural diagram of a resource element groupincluded in another resource element set according to an embodiment ofthis application;

FIG. 4d is a schematic structural diagram of a resource element groupincluded in another resource element set according to an embodiment ofthis application;

FIG. 4e is a schematic structural diagram of a resource element groupincluded in another resource element set according to an embodiment ofthis application;

FIG. 4f is a schematic structural diagram of a resource element groupincluded in another resource element set according to an embodiment ofthis application;

FIG. 4g is a schematic structural diagram of a resource element groupincluded in another resource element set according to an embodiment ofthis application;

FIG. 4h is a schematic structural diagram of a resource element groupincluded in another resource element set according to an embodiment ofthis application;

FIG. 4i is a schematic structural diagram of a resource elementaccording to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 4j is schematic structural diagrams of resource element setsaccording to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 4k is a schematic flowchart of mapping a bit sequence of controlinformation according to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 4l is a schematic structural diagram of mapping a reference signaland control information of a single-antenna port to a resource elementgroup according to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 4m is a schematic structural diagram of mapping a reference signaland control information of a dual-antenna port to a resource elementgroup according to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 4n is a schematic structural diagram of mapping a reference signaland control information of another dual-antenna port to a resourceelement group according to an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device fortransmitting control information according to an embodiment of thisapplication;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device fortransmitting control information according to an embodiment of thisapplication;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of another network device fortransmitting control information according to an embodiment of thisapplication; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of another terminal device fortransmitting control information according to an embodiment of thisapplication.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Technical solutions of embodiments of this application may be applied tovarious communications systems, for example, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi),Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), a Global Systemfor Mobile Communications (GSM) system, a Code Division Multiple Access(CDMA) system, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system,a general packet radio service (GPRS), a Long Term Evolution (LTE)system, a Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) system, a UniversalMobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a cellular system and the likerelated to the 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), and a fifthgeneration (5G) mobile communications system. This is not limited in theembodiments of this application.

FIG. 2 is an example schematic diagram of a system architecture to whichan embodiment of this application is applicable. As shown in FIG. 2, thesystem architecture includes a network device 201 and a plurality ofterminal devices, for example, a terminal device 202 and a terminaldevice 203, capable of accessing a network by using the network device201.

The terminal device (User Equipment (UE)) in this embodiment of thisapplication may also be referred to as a terminal, which is a devicethat provides voice and/or data connectivity for a user, for example, ahandheld device or an in-vehicle device having a wireless connectionfunction. Common terminals include, for example, a mobile phone, atablet computer, a notebook computer, a palmtop computer, a mobileInternet device (MID), a wearable device such as a smartwatch, a smartband, and a pedometer, and the like.

The network device in this embodiment of this application may be acommon base station (for example, a NodeB or an eNB), a new radiocontroller (NR controller), a centralized unit, a new radio basestation, a remote radio frequency module, a micro base station, a relay,a distributed unit, a reception point (RP) or a transmission point (TP),or any other radio access device. This embodiment of this application isnot limited thereto.

FIG. 2a is an example schematic structural diagram of a radio frametransmitted between a network device and a terminal according to anembodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 2a , one or more radioframes are transmitted between a network device and a terminal device byusing time as a coordinate. Each radio frame may include one or moresubframes. FIG. 2b is an example schematic structural diagram of asubframe transmitted between a network device and a terminal accordingto an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 2b , one subframemay include one or more timeslots. A time-frequency resourcecorresponding to the terminal occupies one symbol in time domain, andoccupies one subcarrier in frequency domain.

A subframe in this embodiment of this application occupies atime-frequency resource of total system bandwidth in the frequencydomain, and is a time-frequency resource element with a fixed timelength in the time domain. A plurality of symbols may be occupied in onesubframe. Symbols occupied by one subframe may be determined dependingon an actual case, and are not limited herein. For example, in LTE, onesubframe occupies 14 contiguous symbols in the time domain.Alternatively, in a 5G system, when a subcarrier width is 30 kHz/60 kHz(kHz is short for kilohertz), a subframe occupies 28 or 56 contiguoussymbols in the time domain.

The timeslot in this embodiment of this application is a basictime-frequency resource element. In this embodiment of this application,one timeslot may occupy seven contiguous symbols in the time domain.

The symbol in this embodiment of this application includes, but is notlimited to, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol,a sparse code multiple access (SCMA) symbol, a filtered orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (F-OFDM) symbol, and a non-orthogonalmultiple access (NOMA) symbol. A specific symbol may be determineddepending on an actual case, and details are not further describedherein.

A subcarrier in this embodiment of this application is a minimumgranularity in the frequency domain. For example, in LTE, one subcarrierhas a subcarrier width of 15 kHz; in 5G, a subcarrier may have a widthof 15 kHz, 30 kHz, or 60 kHz.

A physical resource block in this embodiment of this applicationoccupies P contiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain, and occupiesQ contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, where P and Q are naturalnumbers greater than 1. For example, a unit time-frequency resource mayoccupy 12 contiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain, and may occupyseven contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, where P=12 and Q=7, orP=12 and Q=14.

A resource element group in this embodiment of this application mayoccupy S contiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain, and occupy Tcontiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, where S is a natural numbergreater than 1. For example, a resource element group may occupy 12contiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain, and may occupy one OFDMsymbol in the time domain, where S=12 and T=1.

One control channel element (CCE) in this embodiment of this applicationmay correspondingly include a plurality of resource element groups, anda quantity of resource element groups corresponding to one controlchannel element may be fixed, for example, 4 or 6.

Based on the foregoing content, FIG. 3 is an example schematic flowchartof a control information transmission method according to an embodimentof this application.

Step 301: A network device determines configuration information of acontrol channel, where the configuration information includes frequencydomain information and/or time domain information used to indicate atime-frequency resource occupied by the control channel, and includesindication information used to indicate at least one resource elementset, wherein the time-frequency resource occupied by the control channelincludes the at least one resource element set.

Optionally, if the configuration information includes the frequencydomain information used to indicate the time-frequency resource occupiedby the control channel, the time domain information of thetime-frequency resource occupied by the control channel may be preset,or may be agreed on in another manner. Optionally, if the configurationinformation includes the time domain information used to indicate thetime-frequency resource occupied by the control channel, the frequencydomain information of the time-frequency resource occupied by thecontrol channel may be preset, or may be agreed on in another manner.

For example, the configuration information includes indicationinformation of a resource granularity occupied by the control channel infrequency domain, and indication information of a location of thecontrol channel in the frequency domain. The time domain information maybe predefined as one or two OFDM symbols.

For example, the indication information of a resource granularityindicates that a granularity of an occupied frequency domain resource issix physical resource blocks, and the indication information of alocation uses a bitmap for indication. If system bandwidth includes 96physical resource blocks in the frequency domain, every six physicalresource blocks are grouped to form a group, and the system bandwidthincludes 16 minimum resource granularities. The bitmap includes a bitsequence whose length is equal to the quantity of the minimum resourcegranularities, that is, includes a 16-bit-long bit sequence thatindicates the location of the control channel in the frequency domain.If the bitmap is {0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0}, the fifth, sixth,seventh, and eighth six contiguous physical resource blocks in thesystem bandwidth are used to transmit the control channel, and thecontrol channel includes 24 contiguous physical resource blocks in thefrequency domain.

Optionally, physical resource blocks included in the control channel inthe frequency domain are not contiguous. For example, if the bitmap is{0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0}, the fifth, seventh, ninth, andeleventh six contiguous physical resource blocks in the system bandwidthare used to transmit the control channel, and the control channelincludes 24 discrete physical resource blocks in the frequency domain.

Configuration of the frequency domain information of the control channelin this embodiment of the present invention is not limited to theforegoing examples. The foregoing examples are merely examples forunderstanding the present invention. All configuration information fallswithin the protection scope of the present invention, provided that theconfiguration information includes a frequency domain resource size or afrequency domain resource location. Details are not further describedherein.

Optionally, the network device may configure, for a terminal devicebased on some attribute information of the terminal device, locationinformation of the terminal device, a service initiated by the terminaldevice, a current load status of a network, or time-frequency resourceusage or the like, at least one of the frequency domain information andthe time domain information of the time-frequency resource of thecontrol channel.

For example, the configuration information includes a size of a resourceoccupied by the control channel in the time domain, including one or twoOFDM symbols. Alternatively, the configuration information furtherincludes location information of the resource occupied in the timedomain. For example, the configuration information indicates that anOFDM symbol on which the control channel is located is a zeroth OFDMsymbol, a first OFDM symbol, or the like. A frequency domain location ofthe control channel is predefined in the frequency domain. For example,using a central subcarrier of system bandwidth as a center, 96 physicalresource blocks are symmetrically included in the frequency domain, orbandwidth in the frequency domain is 5 MHz. A specific value of thebandwidth is not limited.

Alternatively, the configuration information includes a location of atimeslot in which the control channel is located in a given time domainperiod. For example, a predefined or configurable period includes 10timeslots, and the location of the timeslot in which the control channelis located is indicated by using a bitmap. The bitmap has a bit lengthequal to a quantity of timeslots included in one period. If the bitmapis {1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0}, the control channel is included in the firstand sixth timeslots in the time domain.

In addition to bitmap-based indication, a location at which the controlchannel appears in the time domain may be predefined as {first timeslot,sixth timeslot}, {third timeslot, seventh timeslot}, or {firsttimeslot}. An identifier may be a bit sequence. For example, {00}corresponds to the locations {first timeslot, sixth timeslot} at whichthe control channel appears in the time domain, {01} corresponds to thelocations {third timeslot, seventh timeslot} at which the controlchannel appears in the time domain, and {10} corresponds to the location{first timeslot} at which the control channel appears in the timedomain. A time domain indication method is not limited herein, where abitmap may be used, or an identifier indicates a predefined time domainlocation, which all fall within the protection scope of the presentinvention.

Optionally, if the configuration information includes the frequencydomain information and the time domain information used to indicate thetime-frequency resource occupied by the control channel, the time domaininformation may be a location and/or a size of an OFDM symbol in aspecified timeslot, and the frequency domain information may be aquantity or locations of physical resource blocks in the frequencydomain.

Optionally, in this embodiment of this application, the network devicemay further configure, for the terminal device based on the someattribute information of the terminal device, the location informationof the terminal device, the service initiated by the terminal device,the current load status of the network, or the time-frequency resourceusage or the like, indication information of at least one resourceelement set corresponding to the network device.

Optionally, the network device may send the configuration information tothe terminal device by using higher layer signaling, for example, radioresource control (RRC) signaling or system information. Optionally, atleast one of the frequency domain information and the time domaininformation of the time-frequency resource occupied by the controlchannel in step 301 may be transmitted by using broadcast signaling senton a broadcast channel.

Step 302: The network device maps the control information to one or moreof the at least one resource element set based on the configurationinformation.

Step 303: The network device sends the configuration information to aterminal device, and sends the control information to the terminaldevice. Optionally, an order of sending the configuration informationand sending the control information by the network device is notlimited. The network device may first send the configuration informationor may first send the control information.

Optionally, after step 303, step 304 may be performed: The terminaldevice receives the configuration information sent by the networkdevice.

Step 305: The terminal device monitors the control channel based on theconfiguration information, to obtain the control information mapped tothe one or more of the at least one resource element set, where thecontrol information is carried on the one or more of the at least oneresource element set.

Optionally, in step 305, specifically, the terminal device performsjoint channel estimation based on all reference signals included in aresource element set, and obtains, based on a result of channelestimation, control information mapped to the resource element set. Inthis way, reference signal density is not increased, and because aquantity of reference signals used in channel estimation is increased,channel estimation accuracy is improved.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes frequency domain information and/or timedomain information of the at least one resource element set.

For example, the indication information used to indicate the at leastone resource element set may specifically indicate a symbol and asubcarrier that are occupied by a resource element set. A typical valuemay be as follows: a quantity of symbols included in the time domain is1, 2, or 3; or a quantity of subcarriers included in the frequencydomain is 12, 24, 48, or 72.

For example, the indication information used to indicate the at leastone resource element set may specifically indicate a quantity ofcontiguous symbols occupied by a resource element set in the timedomain. A typical value may be as follows: a quantity of symbolsincluded in the time domain may be 1, 2, or 3.

For example, the indication information used to indicate the at leastone resource element set may specifically indicate a quantity ofcontiguous subcarriers occupied by a resource element set in thefrequency domain. A typical value may be as follows: a quantity ofsubcarriers is 12, 24, 48, or 72. Alternatively, a quantity ofcontiguous physical resource blocks occupied in the frequency domain isindicated; and a typical value may be 2, 3, or 6.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set further includes resource information of areference signal that is included in the at least one resource elementset and that is used for channel estimation, for example, a quantity ofports for the reference signal used for channel estimation, where atleast one of the antenna ports corresponds to a predefined group ofresource elements, and the resource elements are used to send thereference signal.

The quantity of antenna ports may be 1 or 2. If the quantity of antennaports is 1, a reference signal location in each resource element groupin the resource element set corresponds to a resource element setpattern {0} in FIG. 4j . If the quantity of antenna ports is 2, areference signal location in each resource element group in the resourceelement set corresponds to a resource element set pattern {7} in FIG. 4j.

In this embodiment of the present invention, information indicating alocation of a resource element for sending a reference signal is notlimited to the foregoing examples. The foregoing examples in whichindication is performed by using a quantity of antenna ports are merelyexamples for understanding the present invention. All configurationinformation falls within the protection scope of the present invention,provided that the configuration information indicates a quantity orlocations of resource elements that are in a resource element set andthat are used to transmit a reference signal. Details are not furtherdescribed herein.

In another optional implementation, the indication information used toindicate the at least one resource element set includes patterninformation of the at least one resource element set. For example, someresource element set patterns are preset, and each pattern of resourceelement set occupies a fixed symbol and subcarrier. Optionally, eachpattern of resource element set may have a piece of pattern information,and the pattern information is used to uniquely indicate the pattern ofresource element set. For example, pattern information of a resourceelement set may be an identifier of the resource element set.

Optionally, each of the at least one resource element set in thisembodiment of this application includes at least one resource elementgroup. Optionally, the resource element group occupies one contiguoussymbol in the time domain, and occupies 12 contiguous subcarriers in thefrequency domain. Optionally, the symbol may be an OFDM symbol.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set may alternatively be indication informationindicating a resource element group included in the resource elementset.

In a first optional implementation, the indication information used toindicate the at least one resource element set includes informationabout a resource element group included in the at least one resourceelement set in the frequency domain and information about a resourceelement group included in the at least one resource element set in thetime domain. For example, in the time domain, the indication informationincludes a quantity of contiguous resource element groups in the timedomain, and in the frequency domain, the indication information includesa quantity of contiguous resource element groups in the frequencydomain.

In a second optional implementation, the indication information used toindicate the at least one resource element set includes informationabout a resource element group included in the at least one resourceelement set in the frequency domain. For example, in the frequencydomain, the indication information includes a quantity of contiguousresource element groups in the frequency domain. Information about aresource element group included in a resource element set in the timedomain may be preset or agreed on in another manner or the like.

In a third optional implementation, the indication information used toindicate the at least one resource element set includes informationabout a resource element group included in the at least one resourceelement set in the time domain. For example, in the time domain, theindication information includes a quantity of contiguous resourceelement groups in the time domain. Information about a resource elementgroup included in a resource element set in the frequency domain may bepreset or agreed on in another manner or the like.

In a fourth optional implementation, one or more resource element setpatterns are predefined, and the indication information indicates one ofthe one or more resource element set patterns.

In this embodiment of this application, FIG. 4a to FIG. 4h are exampleschematic structural diagrams of a resource element group included in aresource element set according to an embodiment of this application. Ina first resource element group, a second resource element group, . . . ,and a twenty-eighth resource element group in this embodiment of thisapplication, the “first”, “second”, . . . , and “twenty-eighth” aremerely intended to distinguish resource element groups, and are notlimitative. In this embodiment of this application, one resource elementgroup occupies one or more contiguous time domain symbols in the timedomain, and occupies one or more contiguous subcarriers in the frequencydomain.

As shown in FIG. 4a , the resource element set includes a first resourceelement group.

As shown in FIG. 4b , the resource element set includes a secondresource element group and a third resource element group, where thesecond resource element group and the third resource element groupoccupy a same symbol in the time domain, and occupy contiguoussubcarriers in the frequency domain. Optionally, the second resourceelement group and the third resource element group may occupy a samequantity or different quantities of subcarriers.

As shown in FIG. 4c , the resource element set includes a fourthresource element group, a fifth resource element group, and a sixthresource element group, where the fourth resource element group, thefifth resource element group, and the sixth resource element groupoccupy a same symbol in the time domain, and occupy contiguoussubcarriers in the frequency domain. Optionally, any two of the fourthresource element group, the fifth resource element group, and the sixthresource element group may occupy a same quantity or differentquantities of subcarriers.

As shown in FIG. 4d , the resource element set includes a seventhresource element group, an eighth resource element group, a ninthresource element group, a tenth resource element group, an eleventhresource element group, and a twelfth resource element group, where theseventh resource element group, the eighth resource element group, theninth resource element group, the tenth resource element group, theeleventh resource element group, and the twelfth resource element groupoccupy a same symbol in the time domain, and occupy contiguoussubcarriers in the frequency domain. Optionally, any two of the seventhresource element group, the eighth resource element group, the ninthresource element group, the tenth resource element group, the eleventhresource element group, and the twelfth resource element group mayoccupy a same quantity or different quantities of subcarriers.

As shown in FIG. 4e , the resource element set includes a thirteenthresource element group and a fourteenth resource element group, wherethe thirteenth resource element group and the fourteenth resourceelement group occupy contiguous symbols in the time domain, and occupy asame subcarrier in the frequency domain. Optionally, thirteenth resourceelement group and the fourteenth resource element group may occupy asame quantity or different quantities of symbols.

As shown in FIG. 4f , the resource element set includes a fifteenthresource element group, a sixteenth resource element group, aseventeenth resource element group, an eighteenth resource elementgroup, a nineteenth resource element group, and a twentieth resourceelement group, where the fifteenth resource element group, the sixteenthresource element group, and the seventeenth resource element groupoccupy a same symbol in the time domain, and occupy contiguoussubcarriers in the frequency domain; the eighteenth resource elementgroup, the nineteenth resource element group, and the twentieth resourceelement group occupy a same symbol in the time domain, and occupycontiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain; the fifteenth resourceelement group and the eighteenth resource element group occupy a samesubcarrier in the frequency domain, and occupy contiguous symbols in thetime domain; the sixteenth resource element group and the nineteenthresource element group occupy a same subcarrier in the frequency domain,and occupy contiguous symbols in the time domain; and the seventeenthresource element group and the twentieth resource element group occupy asame subcarrier in the frequency domain, and occupy contiguous symbolsin the time domain. Optionally, two resource element groups occupyingcontiguous symbols in the time domain may occupy a same quantity ordifferent quantities of subcarriers, and two resource element groupsoccupying contiguous symbols in the frequency domain may occupy a samequantity or different quantities of symbols.

As shown in FIG. 4g , the resource element set includes a twenty-firstresource element group, a twenty-second resource element group, and atwenty-third resource element group, where the twenty-first resourceelement group, the twenty-second resource element group, and thetwenty-third resource element group occupy contiguous symbols in thetime domain, and occupy a same subcarrier in the frequency domain.Optionally, two resource element groups occupying contiguous symbols inthe time domain may occupy a same quantity or different quantities ofsubcarriers, and two resource element groups occupying contiguoussymbols in the frequency domain may occupy a same quantity or differentquantities of symbols.

As shown in FIG. 4h , the resource element set includes a twenty-fourthresource element group, a twenty-fifth resource element group, atwenty-sixth resource element group, a twenty-seventh resource elementgroup, a twenty-eighth resource element group, and a twenty-ninthresource element group, where the twenty-fourth resource element group,the twenty-sixth resource element group, and the twenty-eighth resourceelement group occupy contiguous symbols in the time domain, and occupy asame subcarrier in the frequency domain; the twenty-fifth resourceelement group, the twenty-seventh resource element group, and thetwenty-ninth resource element group occupy contiguous symbols in thetime domain, and occupy a same subcarrier in the frequency domain; thetwenty-fourth resource element group and the twenty-fifth resourceelement group occupy contiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain, andoccupy a same symbol in the time domain; the twenty-sixth resourceelement group and the twenty-seventh resource element group occupycontiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain, and occupy a same symbolin the time domain; and the twenty-eighth resource element group and thetwenty-ninth resource element group occupy contiguous subcarriers in thefrequency domain, and occupy a same symbol in the time domain.Optionally, two resource element groups occupying contiguous symbols inthe time domain may occupy a same quantity or different quantities ofsubcarriers, and two resource element groups occupying contiguoussymbols in the frequency domain may occupy a same quantity or differentquantities of symbols.

This embodiment of this application describes, for example, theforegoing possible forms of a resource element group included in aresource element set. When a quantity of resource element groupsincluded in the resource element set is increased in the time domain, afrequency diversity gain obtained by a control channel carried on theresource element groups increases. Therefore, an additional time domaindiversity gain is obtained, and a coverage capability of the controlchannel is enhanced.

During specific implementation, in different service scenarios, thecontrol channel changes differently in the time domain and the frequencydomain, and quantities of resource element groups included in a resourceelement set in the time domain and the frequency domain are alsodifferent. Therefore, a time-frequency resource size of a resourceelement group in the resource element set may be further designed, tofurther enhance the coverage capability of the control channel.

Optionally, in this embodiment of this application, an index is set foreach resource element group. The index may also be referred to as anidentifier, and may uniquely determine the resource element group. Theindex of the resource element group corresponds to a symbol and asubcarrier number of at least one resource element in the resourceelement group. For example, a symbol and a subcarrier number of aresource element in the resource element group are directly used as theindex of the resource element group. In this case, the index of theresource element group includes two values. Optionally, a symbol and asubcarrier number of a resource element occupying a minimum symbol inthe resource element group may be directly used as the index of theresource element group, or a symbol and a subcarrier number of aresource element occupying a minimum subcarrier in the resource elementgroup may be directly used as the index of the resource element group.In this case, the index of the resource element group still includes twovalues. Alternatively, calculation may be performed on a symbol and asubcarrier number of a resource element in the resource element group,and one value is eventually obtained as the index of the resourceelement group. Optionally, a value obtained through calculation on thesymbol and the subcarrier number of the resource element occupying theminimum symbol in the resource element group may be directly used as theindex of the resource element group, or a value obtained throughcalculation on the symbol and the subcarrier number of the resourceelement occupying the minimum subcarrier in the resource element groupmay be directly used as the index of the resource element group.

Optionally, in this embodiment of this application, an index of eachresource element set corresponds to a symbol and a subcarrier number ofat least one resource element in the resource element set. Optionally,in this embodiment of this application, an index is set for eachresource element set. The index may also be referred to as anidentifier, and may uniquely determine the resource element set. Theindex of the resource element set corresponds to a symbol and asubcarrier number of at least one resource element in the resourceelement set. For example, a symbol and a subcarrier number of a resourceelement in the resource element set are directly used as the index ofthe resource element set. In this case, the index of the resourceelement set includes two values.

In an optional implementation, a resource element occupying a minimumsymbol in the resource element set is determined. If a plurality ofresource elements occupy the minimum symbol, a resource elementoccupying a minimum subcarrier number is determined from the pluralityof resource elements occupying the minimum symbol, and a symbol and asubcarrier number of the resource element are directly used as the indexof the resource element set.

In another optional implementation, a resource element occupying aminimum subcarrier number in the resource element set is determined. Ifa plurality of resource elements occupy the minimum subcarrier number, aresource element occupying a minimum symbol is determined from theplurality of resource elements occupying the minimum subcarrier number,and a symbol and a subcarrier number of the resource element aredirectly used as the index of the resource element set.

Alternatively, a symbol and a subcarrier number of a resource element inthe resource element set may be processed to obtain a value as the indexof the resource element set. In an optional implementation, a resourceelement occupying a minimum symbol in the resource element set isdetermined. If a plurality of resource elements occupy the minimumsymbol, a resource element occupying a minimum subcarrier number isdetermined from the plurality of resource elements occupying the minimumsymbol, and a symbol and a subcarrier number of the resource element areprocessed to obtain a value as the index of the resource element set. Inanother optional implementation, a resource element occupying a minimumsubcarrier number in the resource element set is determined. If aplurality of resource elements occupy the minimum subcarrier number, aresource element occupying a minimum symbol is determined from theplurality of resource elements occupying the minimum subcarrier number,and a symbol and a subcarrier number of the resource element areprocessed to obtain a value as the index of the resource element set.

Two contiguous resource element sets may be two resource element setsoccupying a same frequency domain subcarrier and adjacent time domainsymbols, or may be two resource element sets occupying a same timedomain symbol and adjacent frequency domain subcarriers.

FIG. 4i is an example schematic structural diagram of a resource elementaccording to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 4h , inthe time domain, each resource element occupies one symbol representedby a letter l. On a time domain coordinate, the first symbol isrepresented by l, and then the second symbol is represented by l+1; on afrequency domain coordinate, a number of the first subcarrier isrepresented by k, and then a number of the second subcarrier isrepresented by k+1; and so on. If a resource element group occupies thesymbol 1 in the time domain, and occupies subcarriers k to k+11 in thefrequency domain, an index of the resource element group may berepresented by a symbol and a subcarrier identifier of a resourceelement with a minimum symbol or a minimum subcarrier number in theresource element group. For example, the index of the resource elementgroup may be represented by (k, l).

Optionally, in a resource element group set, a symbol of a resourceelement included in a resource element group may be defined as follows:

l=l ₀, (or l=l ₀+0), l=l ₀+1, l=l ₀+2, . . . , and l=l ₀+(N−1); and

a number of a subcarrier of the resource element included in theresource element group may be defined as follows:

k=k ₀+0, k ₀+1, k ₀+2, . . . , k ₀+11, . . . , and k=k ₀ +x, k ₀ +x+1, k₀ +x+2, . . . , k ₀+(x+11);

where x=M−1; M and N herein are configured by using higher layersignaling, and are positive integers greater than or equal to 1.

If it is determined that M=1 and N=2 as indicated in the higher layersignaling, for a u^(th) resource element group set, a symbol of aresource element included in a resource element group in the u^(th)resource element group set may be defined as follows:

l=l ₀, (or l=l ₀+0), and l=l ₀+1; and

a number of a subcarrier of the resource element included in theresource element group in the u^(th) resource element group set may bedefined as follows:

k=k ₀+0, k ₀+1, k ₀+2, . . . , k ₀+11;

where for k₀ and l₀ corresponding to the u^(th) resource element groupset, k₀=u·M·N^(RB) _(sc) mod N^(DL) _(RB)N^(RB) _(sc), where N^(RB)_(sc) is a quantity of subcarriers included in a resource element group;and l₀=└u·M/N^(DL) _(RB)┘. Optionally, M and N are configured by usinghigher layer signaling, and are positive integers greater than or equalto 1. Correspondingly, the number u of the resource element group setcorresponds to a subcarrier with a minimum number and an OFDM symbolwith a minimum number in the resource element group. └.┘ representsrounding down. N^(DL) _(RB) may represent a total quantity of resourceelement groups included on a frequency domain resource on which adownlink control channel is located.

Optionally, based on a correspondence between a resource element groupset and a resource element group, a number of the resource element groupset may be defined as follows:

According to definition of the resource element group set, a controlchannel may include a plurality of resource element group sets, aplurality of resource element sets are sequentially numbered 0, . . . ,and N_(GREG)−1, where GREG represent a group of resource element groups,and N_(GREG) represents a quantity of the plurality of resource elementgroup sets included in the control channel. Assuming that u is used asthe number of the resource element set, and u∈{0, . . . , N_(GREG)−1}, asubcarrier that has a minimum number and that corresponds to a u^(th)resource element set in the frequency domain is k₀=u·M·N^(RB) _(sc).Alternatively, based on the number u and N, a number n_(RB) of aphysical resource block corresponding to a resource element group in thefrequency domain is determined, where n_(RB) satisfies n_(RB) mod M=0,or n_(RB)=u·M, or n_(RB)=u·M+A, where A may be a random variable, andmod is a modulo operation.

In this embodiment of this application, a number of a physical resourceblock and a number of a resource element group are the same in thefrequency domain. Therefore, the number of the physical resource blockin the frequency domain and the number of the resource element group inthe frequency domain that are described in this embodiment of thisapplication may be understood as a same value.

Optionally, the configuration information may further include indicationinformation of resources occupied in the time domain and the frequencydomain by each resource element group included in each of the at leastone resource element set. In this way, when a resource element setincludes resource element groups in different structural forms, theresource element groups may be indicated separately.

Optionally, the resource element set in this embodiment of thisapplication may include one or more resource element groups with a samestructure, or structures of two resource element groups included in theresource element set may be different. FIG. 4j shows example schematicstructural diagrams of resource element sets according to an embodimentof this application. As shown in FIG. 4j , a resource element set withresource element set pattern information 0 includes one resource elementgroup. In the resource element group, 10 resource elements are used tocarry control information, and the other two resource elements are usedto carry a reference signal. As shown in FIG. 4j , a resource elementset with resource element set pattern information 1 includes tworesource element groups. The two resource element groups arecontiguously arranged in the frequency domain direction. In each of thetwo resource element groups, 10 resource elements are used to carrycontrol information, and the other two resource elements are used tocarry a reference signal. As shown in FIG. 4j , a resource element setwith resource element set pattern information 6 includes three resourceelement groups. The three resource element groups are contiguouslyarranged in a time domain direction. In each of the top resource elementgroup and the bottom resource element group, 10 resource elements areused to carry control information, and the other two resource elementsare used to carry a reference signal; in the middle resource elementgroup, all resource elements are used to carry control information.Other resource element set patterns are similar to the foregoingcontent, and are not described herein one by one.

With reference to the structures shown in FIG. 4j , an embodiment ofthis application further provides PCDDH format information. Table 1schematically shows physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) formatscorresponding to the resource element set pattern information 0, theresource element set pattern information 1, resource element set patterninformation 2, or resource element set pattern information 3 in FIG. 4j. Table 2 schematically shows PDCCH formats corresponding to resourceelement set pattern information 4 or resource element set patterninformation 5 in FIG. 4j . Table 3 schematically shows PDCCH formatscorresponding to the resource element set pattern information 6 in FIG.4j . Table 4 schematically shows PDCCH formats corresponding to resourceelement set pattern information 7 or resource element set patterninformation 8 in FIG. 4j . Table 5 schematically shows PDCCH formatscorresponding to resource element set pattern information 9 in FIG. 4j .

TABLE 1 PDCCH formats corresponding to the resource element set patterninformation 0, the resource element set pattern information 1, theresource element set pattern information 2, or the resource element setpattern information 3 in FIG. 4j Quantity of Quantity of resource PDCCHformat CCEs element groups PDCCH bit size 0 1 6 120 1 2 12 240 2 4 24480 3 8 48 960

Optionally, PDCCH formats corresponding to the resource element setpattern information 1 in FIG. 4j are a PDCCH format 0 and a PDCCHformat 1. PDCCH formats corresponding to the resource element setpattern information 3 in FIG. 4j are a PDCCH format 2 and a PDCCH format3.

Therefore, in this method, the PDCCH formats correspond to differentaggregation levels of control channel search space. For example, inTable 1, the PDCCH format 0 corresponds to an aggregation level 1, thePDCCH format 1 corresponds to an aggregation level 2, the PDCCH format 2corresponds to an aggregation level 4, and the PDCCH format 3corresponds to an aggregation level 8. Different resource element setsmay correspond to one or more PDCCH formats. Different patterns ofresource element sets in FIG. 4j may correspond to a same or differentPDCCH formats. Alternatively, different patterns of resource elementsets in FIG. 4j may correspond to a same or different aggregationlevels.

In a feasible embodiment, a pattern of a resource element set includedin a first control channel resource is the resource element set pattern1 shown in FIG. 4j , corresponding control channel formats are the PDCCHformat 0 and the PDCCH format 1 in Table 1, and corresponding searchspace aggregation levels are the aggregation level 1 and the aggregationlevel 2. In addition, a system further includes a second control channelresource, a pattern of a resource element set included in the secondcontrol channel resource is the resource element set pattern 3 shown inFIG. 4j , corresponding control channel formats are the PDCCH format 2and the PDCCH format 3 in Table 1, and corresponding search spaceaggregation levels are the aggregation level 4 and the aggregation level8.

TABLE 2 PDCCH formats corresponding to the resource element set patterninformation 4 or the resource element set pattern information 5 in FIG.4j Quantity of Quantity of resource PDCCH format CCEs element groupsPDCCH bit size 0 1 6 132 1 2 12 264 2 4 24 528 3 8 48 1056

TABLE 3 PDCCH formats corresponding to the resource element set patterninformation 6 in FIG. 4j Quantity of Quantity of resource PDCCH formatCCEs element groups PDCCH bit size 0 1 6 128 1 2 12 256 2 4 24 512 3 848 1024

TABLE 4 PDCCH formats corresponding to the resource element set patterninformation 7 or the resource element set pattern information 8 in FIG.4j Quantity of Quantity of resource PDCCH format CCEs element groupsPDCCH bit size 0 1 6 96 1 2 12 192 2 4 24 384 3 8 48 768

TABLE 5 PDCCH formats corresponding to the resource element set patterninformation 9 in FIG. 4j Quantity of Quantity of resource PDCCH formatCCEs element groups PDCCH bit size 0 1 6 120 1 2 12 240 2 4 24 480 3 848 960

After the network device determines the configuration information, whenthe control information is determined, the network device maps thecontrol information to a resource element set based on the configurationinformation. Usually, the control information is downlink controlinformation. There is one or more pieces of downlink controlinformation. Each piece of control information is a bit sequence. Bitsequences of a plurality of pieces of control information aresequentially arranged and are scrambled and modulated to obtain Emodulated symbols corresponding to the control information that needs tobe sent. The E modulated symbols are sequenced in an arrangement orderof the bit sequences of the control information.

Optionally, the mapping, by the network device, control information toone or more of the at least one resource element set based on theconfiguration information includes: mapping, by the network device, thecontrol information and a reference signal to the one or more of the atleast one resource element set based on the configuration information,where the reference signal is mapped to one or more resource elements ina resource element set including the control information.Correspondingly, the monitoring, by the terminal device, the controlchannel based on the configuration information, to obtain the controlinformation mapped to the one or more of the at least one resourceelement set includes: monitoring, by the terminal device, the controlchannel based on the configuration information, to obtain the controlinformation mapped to the one or more of the at least one resourceelement set, and obtain the reference signal mapped to the one or moreresource elements in the resource element set including the controlinformation. In this way, a resource element set that does not send thecontrol information can be prevented from carrying a control signal, andresource wastes are reduced.

Optionally, that the network device maps the control information for theterminal to the at least one resource element set based on theconfiguration information includes: The network device modulates thecontrol information to obtain E modulated symbols, where E is an integergreater than or equal to 5. The network device maps E/F modulated symbolgroups and a reference signal to the at least one resource element set.

In other words, in this embodiment of this application, the controlinformation is mapped to the resource element set at a granularity ofusing F modulated symbols as a group. Because a resource element set mayinclude one or more resource element groups, joint channel estimationmay be performed by using reference signals in all resource elementgroups included in the resource element set, thereby improving channelestimation accuracy.

In this embodiment of this application, optional implementationsolutions are provided. In an optional implementation solution, the E/Fmodulated symbol groups are interleaved, for example, rearranged and/orshifted, to change an order of the control information at thegranularity of using F modulated symbols as a group. Specifically, thenetwork device uses F modulated symbols of the E modulated symbols toform a modulated symbol group, and interleaves E/F modulated symbolgroups corresponding to the E modulated symbols, where F is an integerless than or equal to E and greater than 4. The network device maps theinterleaved E/F modulated symbol groups and the reference signal to theat least one resource element set, where one modulated symbol group ismapped to one resource element set, and if control information is mappedto a resource element set, a reference signal is mapped to the resourceelement set. If no control information is mapped to a resource elementset, no reference signal is mapped to the resource element set. In thisway, when the control information is mapped to a plurality of resourceelement sets, the control information can be distributed wider in thefrequency domain and/or the time domain, and a larger frequency domaindiversity gain and a larger time domain diversity gain are obtained.

Further, in this embodiment of this application, when the E/F modulatedsymbol groups and the reference signal are mapped to the plurality ofresource element sets, arrangement may be performed in a time-first orfrequency-first manner. For example, numbers of resource element setsand resource element groups are given, and the network device needs tomap the E/F modulated symbol groups and the reference signal to sixresource element sets. In the frequency domain with a subcarrier number1, the resource element sets sequentially include a resource element set1 with a symbol 1, a resource element set 2 with a symbol 2, and aresource element set 3 with a symbol 3. In the frequency domain with asubcarrier number 2, the resource element sets sequentially include aresource element set 4 with the symbol 1, a resource element set 5 withthe symbol 2, and a resource element set 6 with the symbol 3. If thetime-first manner is used, an order that the E/F modulated symbol groupsand the reference signal are mapped to the six resource element setsare: the resource element set 1, the resource element set 2, theresource element set 3, the resource element set 4, the resource elementset 5, and the resource element set 6 in sequence. If thefrequency-first manner is used, an order that the E/F modulated symbolgroups and the reference signal are mapped to the six resource elementsets are: the resource element set 1, the resource element set 4, theresource element set 2, the resource element set 5, the resource elementset 3, and the resource element set 6 in sequence.

Further, in this embodiment of this application, when the E/F modulatedsymbol groups and the reference signal are mapped to the plurality ofresource element sets, arrangement may be performed in a time-first orfrequency-first manner. For example, the network device needs to map theE/F modulated symbol groups and the reference signal to six resourceelement sets. In the frequency domain with a subcarrier number 1, theresource element sets sequentially include a resource element set 1 witha symbol 1, a resource element set 2 with a symbol 2, and a resourceelement set 3 with a symbol 3. In the frequency domain with a subcarriernumber 2, the resource element sets sequentially include a resourceelement set 4 with the symbol 1, a resource element set 5 with thesymbol 2, and a resource element set 6 with the symbol 3. If thetime-first manner is used, an order that the E/F modulated symbol groupsand the reference signal are mapped to the six resource element setsare: the resource element set 1, the resource element set 2, theresource element set 3, the resource element set 4, the resource elementset 5, and the resource element set 6 in sequence. If thefrequency-first manner is used, an order that the E/F modulated symbolgroups and the reference signal are mapped to the six resource elementsets are: the resource element set 1, the resource element set 4, theresource element set 2, the resource element set 5, the resource elementset 3, and the resource element set 6 in sequence.

In another optional implementation solution, numbers or indexes ofresource element sets are interleaved, to change an order of the controlinformation at the granularity of using F modulated symbols as a group.FIG. 4k is an example schematic flowchart of mapping a bit sequence ofcontrol information according to an embodiment of this application. Eachterminal device corresponds to one or more CCEs. Each CCE may includeone or more resource element sets. As shown in FIG. 4k , a CCE includesthree resource element sets. Optionally, in this embodiment of thisapplication, in FIG. 4 k, 48 resource element groups are divided into 24resource element sets. In this embodiment of this application, numbersof the 24 resource element sets are interleaved, for example, rearrangedand/or shifted. As shown in FIG. 4k , an order of the numbers of theresource element sets is changed after the numbers of the 24 resourceelement sets are interleaved, and then control information correspondingto a CCE is mapped to a resource element group corresponding to numbersof three contiguous resource element sets. In this way, when the controlinformation is mapped to a plurality of resource element sets, thecontrol information can be distributed wider in the frequency domainand/or the time domain, and a larger frequency domain diversity gain anda larger time domain diversity gain are obtained.

In a third optional implementation solution, the E/F modulated symbolgroups are interleaved, and numbers or indexes of resource element setsare interleaved, to change an order of the control information at thegranularity of using F modulated symbols as a group.

Based on the foregoing solution, in this embodiment of this application,a correspondence between each of the E/F modulated symbol groups and aresource element set is obtained, where one modulated symbol groupcorresponds to one resource element set.

Optionally, that the network device maps the interleaved N/K modulatedsymbol groups and the reference signal to the at least one resourceelement set includes: The network device maps the interleaved N/Kmodulated symbol groups and the reference signal to the at least oneresource element set in a time-first manner or a frequency-first manner.In the time-first manner, the control information and/or the referencesignal may be mapped first in the time domain direction. In thefrequency-first manner, the control information and/or the referencesignal may be mapped first in the frequency domain direction.

Optionally, the configuration information further includes at least oneof the following content: indication information of a mapping manner forthe control information, where the mapping manner includes thetime-first manner or the frequency-first manner.

In an optional implementation, the mapping, by the network device,control information to one or more of the at least one resource elementset based on the configuration information includes: performing, by thenetwork device, mapping based on an index of the resource element set.

Correspondingly, if the control information is mapped by the networkdevice based on the index of the resource element set, the monitoring,by the terminal device, the control channel based on the configurationinformation, to obtain the control information mapped to the one or moreof the at least one resource element set includes: monitoring, by theterminal device, the control channel of the terminal device based on theconfiguration information and the index of the resource element set, toobtain the control information mapped to the one or more of the at leastone resource element set.

For example, when FIG. 4i shows one resource element set, mapping isperformed based only on an index of the resource element set. If thetime-first manner is used, numbers of resource elements for mapping are(k, l), (k, l+1), (k+1, l), (k+1, l+1), (k+2, l), (k+2, l+1), (k+3, l),(k+3, l+1), (k+4, l), (k+4, l+1), (k+5, l), (k+5, l+1), (k+6, l), (k+6,l+1), (k+7, l), (k+7, l+1), (k+8, l), (k+8, l+1), (k+9, l), (k+9, l+1),(k+10, l), (k+10, l+1), (k+11, l), and (k+11, l+1) in sequence. If thefrequency-first manner is used, numbers of resource elements for mappingare (k, l), (k+1, l), (k+2, l), (k+3, l), (k+4, l), (k+5, l), (k+6, l),(k+7, l), (k+8, l), (k+9, l), (k+10, l), (k+11, l), (k, l+1), (k+1,l+1), (k+2, l+1), (k+3, l+1), (k+4, l+1), (k+5, l+1), (k+6, l+1), (k+7,l+1), (k+8, l+1), (k+9, l+1), (k+10, l+1), and (k+11, l+1) in sequence.

In another optional implementation, the mapping, by the network device,control information to one or more of the at least one resource elementset based on the configuration information includes: performing, by thenetwork device, mapping based on an index of a resource element groupincluded in the resource element set.

Correspondingly, if the control information is mapped by the networkdevice based on the index of the resource element group included in theresource element set, the monitoring, by the terminal device, thecontrol channel based on the configuration information, to obtain thecontrol information mapped to the one or more of the at least oneresource element set includes: monitoring, by the terminal device, thecontrol channel of the terminal device based on the configurationinformation and the index of the resource element group included in theresource element set, to obtain the control information mapped to theone or more of the at least one resource element set.

For example, FIG. 4i shows one resource element set, the set includestwo resource element groups, a first resource element group includes 12subcarriers with a symbol 1 and subcarrier numbers k to k+11, and asecond resource element group includes 12 subcarriers with a symbol 2and subcarrier numbers k to k+11.

For example, FIG. 4i shows when there is one resource element set,mapping is performed based only on an index of the resource element set.If the time-first manner is used, the resource element group with thesymbol 1 is mapped first, and then the resource element group with thesymbol 2 is mapped. If the frequency-first manner is used, the resourceelement set in FIG. 4i further includes a third resource element groupabove k+11, and the third resource element group includes 12 subcarrierswith the symbol 1 and subcarrier numbers k+12 to k+23, the firstresource element group with the symbol 1 is mapped first, then the thirdresource element group with the symbol 1 is mapped, and subsequently,the resource element group with the symbol 2 is mapped. Optionally, howto map the control information among resource element groups is notlimited in this implementation solution, and either the frequency-firstmanner or the time-first manner may be used.

In a third optional implementation, the mapping, by the network device,control information to one or more of the at least one resource elementset based on the configuration information includes: performing, by thenetwork device, mapping based on an index of the resource element setand an index of a resource element group included in the resourceelement set.

Correspondingly, if the control information is mapped by the networkdevice based on the index of the resource element set and the index ofthe resource element group included in the resource element set, themonitoring, by the terminal device, the control channel based on theconfiguration information, to obtain the control information mapped tothe one or more of the at least one resource element set includes:monitoring, by the terminal device, the control channel of the terminaldevice based on the configuration information, the index of the resourceelement set, and the index of the resource element group included in theresource element set, to obtain the control information mapped to theone or more of the at least one resource element set.

For example, FIG. 4i shows one resource element set, the set includestwo resource element groups, a first resource element group includes 12subcarriers with a symbol 1 and subcarrier numbers k to k+11, and asecond resource element group includes 12 subcarriers with a symbol 2and subcarrier numbers k to k+11.

For example, FIG. 4i shows when there is one resource element set,mapping is performed based only on an index of the resource element set.If the time-first manner is used, the resource element group with thesymbol 1 is mapped first, and then the resource element group with thesymbol 2 is mapped. If the frequency-first manner is used, the resourceelement set in FIG. 4i further includes a third resource element groupabove k+11, and the third resource element group includes 12 subcarrierswith the symbol 1 and subcarrier numbers k+12 to k+23, the firstresource element group with the symbol 1 is mapped first, then the thirdresource element group with the symbol 1 is mapped, and subsequently,the resource element group with the symbol 2 is mapped.

Further, if the time-first manner is used, the control information isstill mapped among the resource element groups in the time-first manner;if the frequency-first manner is used, the control information is stillmapped among the resource element groups in the frequency-first manner.

For example, in FIG. 4i , if the time-first manner is used, numbers ofresource elements in the first resource element group for mapping are(k, l), (k+1, l), (k+2, l), (k+3, l), (k+4, l), (k+5, l), (k+6, l),(k+7, l), (k+8, l), (k+9, l), (k+10, l), and (k+11, l) in sequence.

Further, in this embodiment of this application, optionally, theconfiguration information further includes a power ratio of controlinformation to a reference signal in a resource element set, to whichthe control information is mapped, of the at least one resource elementset. In this way, channel estimation can be more accurately performedbased on the power ratio of control information to a reference signal.

For example, if it is indicated that the power ratio of controlinformation to a reference signal in the resource element set is 1, theterminal device may perform channel estimation based on a power ratio ofa resource element on which the reference signal is located to aresource element carrying the control information. If it is indicatedthat the power ratio of control information to a reference signal in theresource element set is 2, the terminal device adjusts a channelestimation parameter based on the power ratio of control information toa reference signal in the resource element set, and then performschannel estimation.

FIG. 4l is an example schematic structural diagram of mapping areference signal and control information of a single-antenna port to aresource element group according to an embodiment of this application.As shown in FIG. 4l , in a resource element group, two resource elementsmay be used to carry a reference signal. If reference signal powerindication information indicates that a power ratio is 1 or 2, aquantity and locations of resource elements used to transmit controlinformation are kept unchanged.

FIG. 4m and FIG. 4n are example schematic structural diagrams of mappinga reference signal and control information of a dual-antenna port to aresource element group according to an embodiment of this application.As shown in FIG. 4m , in a resource element group, four resourceelements may be used to carry a reference signal. If a power ratio ofcontrol information to a reference signal in a resource element set is 1(or 0 dB), resource mapping for a reference signal and downlink controlinformation is shown in FIG. 4m . If a power ratio of controlinformation to a reference signal in a resource element set is 2 (or 3dB), resource mapping for a reference signal and downlink controlinformation is shown in FIG. 4n . Through this solution, referencesignal transmit power can be increased, thereby improving channelestimation performance.

Further, in this embodiment of this application, optionally, the networkdevice may send the configuration information to the terminal device byusing higher layer signaling, for example, RRC signaling or systeminformation. Optionally, at least one of the frequency domaininformation and the time domain information, in the configurationinformation, of the time-frequency resource occupied by the controlchannel may be transmitted by using broadcast signaling sent on abroadcast channel.

Optionally, the configuration information of the control channel may beindirectly sent to the terminal device through a broadcast channel. Forexample, during initial access, for a time-frequency resource of acontrol channel including common search space, because the terminaldevice has not accessed the network device, the network device can useonly broadcast information sent on a broadcast channel to configure thetime-frequency resource of the control channel including the commonsearch space. The broadcast information includes one or more of timedomain and/or frequency domain indication information of thetime-frequency resource of the control channel, reference-signal-relatedconfiguration information (for example, a location of a time-frequencyresource for carrying a reference signal, or an initial value of areference signal sequence), resource element set configurationinformation, or a resource mapping manner for control information.

Optionally, when the resource element set configuration information doesnot include the configuration information, resource element setconfiguration may be notified to the terminal device or the networkdevice in a predefined manner.

In a feasible implementation, the resource element set configurationinformation is the resource element set pattern information 1 in FIG. 4j, and the resource mapping manner may be the predefined frequency-firstmapping manner.

FIG. 5 is an example schematic structural diagram of a network deviceaccording to this application.

Based on a same idea, this application provides a network device 400,configured to perform any solution in the foregoing method. As shown inFIG. 5, the network device 400 includes a processor 401, a transceiver402, a memory 403, and a communications interface 404. The processor401, the transceiver 402, the memory 403, and the communicationsinterface 404 are connected to each other by using a bus 405.

The bus 405 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, anextended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, or the like. The busmay include an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. Forease of representation, the bus in FIG. 5 is represented by using onlyone bold line, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or onlyone type of bus.

The memory 403 may include a volatile memory, for example, arandom-access memory (RAM), and may also include a non-volatile memory,for example, a flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD), or a solid-statedrive (SSD). The memory 403 may further include a combination of thesememories.

The communications interface 404 may be a wired communicationsinterface, a wireless communications interface, or a combinationthereof. The wired communications interface may be, for example, anEthernet interface. The Ethernet interface may be an optical interface,an electrical interface, or a combination thereof. The wirelesscommunications interface may be a WLAN interface.

The processor 401 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a networkprocessor (NP), or a combination thereof. The processor 401 may furtherinclude a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logicdevice (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complexprogrammable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array(FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or a combination thereof.

Optionally, the memory 403 may be further configured to store a programinstruction, and the processor 401 invokes the program instructionstored in the memory 403, to perform one or more steps or optionalimplementations in the embodiments in the foregoing solution, so thatthe network device 400 implements a function of a network device in theforegoing method.

The processor 401 is configured to execute the instruction stored in thememory, and control the transceiver 402 to receive and send signals, andwhen the processor 401 executes the instruction stored in the memory,the network device 400 may be configured to perform the followingcontent.

The processor is configured to determine configuration information of acontrol channel, where the configuration information includes frequencydomain information and/or time domain information used to indicate atime-frequency resource occupied by the control channel, and includesindication information used to indicate at least one resource elementset, wherein the time-frequency resource occupied by the control channelincludes the at least one resource element set; and map controlinformation to one or more of the at least one resource element setbased on the configuration information. The transceiver is configured tosend the configuration information to a terminal device, and send thecontrol information to the terminal device.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes frequency domain information and/or timedomain information of the at least one resource element set.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes pattern information of the at least oneresource element set.

Optionally, each of the at least one resource element set includes atleast one resource element group, where the resource element groupoccupies one contiguous symbol in time domain, and occupies 12contiguous subcarriers in frequency domain.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes at least one of information about aresource element group included in the at least one resource element setin the frequency domain and information about a resource element groupincluded in the at least one resource element set in the time domain.

Optionally, a structural form of each one of the at least one resourceelement set is similar to that shown in FIG. 4a to FIG. 4h , and detailsare not described herein again.

Optionally, the processor is configured to perform mapping based on atleast one of an index of the resource element set and an index of aresource element group included in the resource element set.

Optionally, the index of the resource element set corresponds to asymbol and a subcarrier number of at least one resource element in theresource element set.

Optionally, the index of the resource element group corresponds to asymbol and a subcarrier number of at least one resource element in theresource element group.

Optionally, the configuration information further includes at least oneof the following content: indication information of resources occupiedin the time domain and the frequency domain by each resource elementgroup included in each of the at least one resource element set;indication information of a mapping manner for the control information,where the mapping manner includes a time-first manner or afrequency-first manner; and a power ratio of control information to areference signal in a resource element set, to which the controlinformation is mapped, of the at least one resource element set.

Optionally, the mapping, by the network device, control information toone or more of the at least one resource element set based on theconfiguration information includes: mapping, by the network device, thecontrol information and a reference signal to the one or more of the atleast one resource element set based on the configuration information,where the reference signal is mapped to one or more resource elements ina resource element set including the control information.

FIG. 6 is an example schematic structural diagram of a terminal deviceaccording to this application.

Based on a same idea, this application provides a terminal device 500,configured to perform any solution in the foregoing method. As shown inFIG. 6, the terminal device 500 includes a processor 501, a transceiver502, a memory 503, and a communications interface 504. The processor501, the transceiver 502, the memory 503, and the communicationsinterface 504 are connected to each other by using a bus 505.

The bus 505 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus, anextended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, or the like. The busmay include an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. Forease of representation, the bus in FIG. 6 is represented by using onlyone bold line, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or onlyone type of bus.

The memory 503 may include a volatile memory, for example, arandom-access memory (RAM), and may also include a non-volatile memory,for example, a flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-statedrive (SSD). The memory 503 may further include a combination of thesememories.

The communications interface 504 may be a wired communicationsinterface, a wireless communications interface, or a combinationthereof. The wired communications interface may be, for example, anEthernet interface. The Ethernet interface may be an optical interface,an electrical interface, or a combination thereof. The wirelesscommunications interface may be a WLAN interface.

The processor 501 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a networkprocessor (NP), or a combination thereof. The processor 501 may furtherinclude a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logicdevice (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complexprogrammable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array(FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or a combination thereof.

Optionally, the memory 503 may be further configured to store a programinstruction, and the processor 501 invokes the program instructionstored in the memory 503, to perform one or more steps or optionalimplementations in the embodiments in the foregoing solution, so thatthe terminal device 500 implements a function of a terminal device inthe foregoing method.

The processor 501 is configured to execute the instruction stored in thememory, and control the transceiver 502 to receive and send signals, andwhen the processor 501 executes the instruction stored in the memory,the terminal device 500 may be configured to perform the followingcontent.

The transceiver is configured to receive configuration information sentby a network device, where the configuration information includesfrequency domain information and/or time domain information used toindicate a time-frequency resource occupied by a control channel, andincludes indication information used to indicate at least one resourceelement set, wherein the time-frequency resource occupied by the controlchannel includes the at least one resource element set. The processor isconfigured to monitor the control channel of the terminal device basedon the configuration information, to obtain control information mappedto one or more of the at least one resource element set, where thecontrol information is carried on the one or more of the at least oneresource element set.

Because the network device maps the control information to the one ormore of the at least one resource element set based on the configurationinformation, the terminal device can perform joint channel estimationbased on all reference signals included in a resource element set. Aquantity of reference signals used in channel estimation is increased,and therefore channel estimation accuracy is improved without increasingreference signal density.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes frequency domain information and/or timedomain information of the at least one resource element set. Optionally,the indication information used to indicate the at least one resourceelement set includes pattern information of the at least one resourceelement set.

Optionally, each of the at least one resource element set includes atleast one resource element group, where the resource element groupoccupies one contiguous symbol in time domain, and occupies 12contiguous subcarriers in frequency domain. Optionally, the indicationinformation used to indicate the at least one resource element setincludes at least one of information about a resource element groupincluded in the at least one resource element set in the frequencydomain and information about a resource element group included in the atleast one resource element set in the time domain.

Optionally, a structural form of each one of the at least one resourceelement set is similar to that shown in FIG. 4a to FIG. 4h , and detailsare not described herein again.

Optionally, if the control information is mapped by the network devicebased on an index of the resource element set and an index of a resourceelement group included in the resource element set, the processor isconfigured to monitor the control channel of the terminal device basedon the configuration information, the index of the resource element set,and the index of the resource element group included in the resourceelement set, to obtain the control information mapped to the one or moreof the at least one resource element set.

Optionally, if the control information is mapped by the network devicebased on an index of the resource element set, the processor isconfigured to monitor the control channel of the terminal device basedon the configuration information and the index of the resource elementset, to obtain the control information mapped to the one or more of theat least one resource element set.

Optionally, if the control information is mapped by the network devicebased on an index of a resource element group included in the resourceelement set, the processor is configured to monitor the control channelof the terminal device based on the configuration information and theindex of the resource element group included in the resource elementset, to obtain the control information mapped to the one or more of theat least one resource element set.

Optionally, the index of the resource element set corresponds to asymbol and a subcarrier number of at least one resource element in theresource element set. Optionally, the index of the resource elementgroup corresponds to a symbol and a subcarrier number of at least oneresource element in the resource element group. Optionally, theconfiguration information further includes at least one of the followingcontent: indication information of a mapping manner for the controlinformation, where the mapping manner includes a time-first manner or afrequency-first manner; and a power ratio of control information to areference signal in a resource element set, to which the controlinformation is mapped, of the at least one resource element set.

Optionally, the monitoring, by the terminal device, the control channelbased on the configuration information, to obtain control informationmapped to one or more of the at least one resource element set includes:monitoring, by the terminal device, the control channel based on theconfiguration information, to obtain the control information mapped tothe one or more of the at least one resource element set, and obtain areference signal mapped to one or more resource elements in a resourceelement set including the control information.

FIG. 7 is an example schematic structural diagram of a network deviceaccording to an embodiment of this application.

Based on a same idea, an embodiment of this application provides anetwork device, configured to perform any solution in the foregoingmethod. As shown in FIG. 7, a network device 600 includes a sending unit603 and a processing unit 602. Optionally, the network device 600further includes a receiving unit 601.

The processing unit is configured to determine configuration informationof a control channel, where the configuration information includesfrequency domain information and/or time domain information used toindicate a time-frequency resource occupied by the control channel, andincludes indication information used to indicate at least one resourceelement set, wherein the time-frequency resource occupied by the controlchannel includes the at least one resource element set; and map controlinformation to one or more of the at least one resource element setbased on the configuration information. The sending unit is configuredto send the configuration information to a terminal device, and send thecontrol information to the terminal device. Optionally, the receivingunit is configured to receive other information, for example, serviceinformation used for various services, sent by the terminal device.

Because the network device maps the control information to the one ormore of the at least one resource element set based on the configurationinformation, the terminal device can perform joint channel estimationbased on all reference signals included in a resource element set. Aquantity of reference signals used in channel estimation is increased,and therefore channel estimation accuracy is improved without increasingreference signal density.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes frequency domain information and/or timedomain information of the at least one resource element set. Optionally,the indication information used to indicate the at least one resourceelement set includes pattern information of the at least one resourceelement set.

Optionally, each of the at least one resource element set includes atleast one resource element group, where the resource element groupoccupies one contiguous symbol in time domain, and occupies 12contiguous subcarriers in frequency domain. Optionally, the indicationinformation used to indicate the at least one resource element setincludes at least one of information about a resource element groupincluded in the at least one resource element set in the frequencydomain and information about a resource element group included in the atleast one resource element set in the time domain.

Optionally, a structural form of each one of the at least one resourceelement set is similar to that shown in FIG. 4a to FIG. 4h , and detailsare not described herein again.

Optionally, the processing unit is configured to perform mapping basedon at least one of an index of the resource element set and an index ofa resource element group included in the resource element set.Optionally, the index of the resource element set corresponds to asymbol and a subcarrier number of at least one resource element in theresource element set. Optionally, the index of the resource elementgroup corresponds to a symbol and a subcarrier number of at least oneresource element in the resource element group.

Optionally, the configuration information further includes at least oneof the following content: indication information of resources occupiedin the time domain and the frequency domain by each resource elementgroup included in each of the at least one resource element set;indication information of a mapping manner for the control information,where the mapping manner includes a time-first manner or afrequency-first manner; and a power ratio of control information to areference signal in a resource element set, to which the controlinformation is mapped, of the at least one resource element set.

Optionally, the mapping, by the network device, control information toone or more of the at least one resource element set based on theconfiguration information includes: mapping, by the network device, thecontrol information and a reference signal to the one or more of the atleast one resource element set based on the configuration information,where the reference signal is mapped to one or more resource elements ina resource element set including the control information.

It should be understood that the foregoing division of units is merelydivision of logical functions. In actual implementation, all or some ofthe units may be integrated into a physical entity, or may be physicallyseparated. In this embodiment of this application, the receiving unit601 and the sending unit 603 may be implemented by the transceiver 402,and the processing unit 602 may be implemented by the processor 401. Asshown in FIG. 5, the network device 400 may include the processor 401,the transceiver 402, and the memory 403. The memory 403 may beconfigured to store code used when the processor 401 executes asolution. The code may be a program/code pre-installed before deliveryof the network device 400.

FIG. 8 is an example schematic structural diagram of a terminal deviceaccording to an embodiment of this application.

Based on a same idea, an embodiment of this application provides aterminal device, configured to perform any solution in the foregoingmethod. As shown in FIG. 8, a terminal device 700 includes a receivingunit 701 and a processing unit 702. Optionally, the terminal device 700further includes a sending unit 703.

The receiving unit is configured to receive configuration informationsent by a network device, where the configuration information includesfrequency domain information and/or time domain information used toindicate a time-frequency resource occupied by a control channel, andincludes indication information used to indicate at least one resourceelement set, wherein the time-frequency resource occupied by the controlchannel includes the at least one resource element set. The processingunit is configured to monitor the control channel of the terminal devicebased on the configuration information, to obtain control informationmapped to one or more of the at least one resource element set, wherethe control information is carried on the one or more of the at leastone resource element set. Optionally, the sending unit 703 is furtherconfigured to send other information, for example, service informationfor various services, to the network device.

Because the network device maps the control information to the one ormore of the at least one resource element set based on the configurationinformation, the terminal device can perform joint channel estimationbased on all reference signals included in a resource element set. Aquantity of reference signals used in channel estimation is increased,and therefore channel estimation accuracy is improved without increasingreference signal density.

Optionally, the indication information used to indicate the at least oneresource element set includes frequency domain information and/or timedomain information of the at least one resource element set. Optionally,the indication information used to indicate the at least one resourceelement set includes pattern information of the at least one resourceelement set.

Optionally, each of the at least one resource element set includes atleast one resource element group, where the resource element groupoccupies one contiguous symbol in time domain, and occupies 12contiguous subcarriers in frequency domain. Optionally, the indicationinformation used to indicate the at least one resource element setincludes at least one of information about a resource element groupincluded in the at least one resource element set in the frequencydomain and information about a resource element group included in the atleast one resource element set in the time domain.

Optionally, a structural form of each one of the at least one resourceelement set is similar to that shown in FIG. 4a to FIG. 4h , and detailsare not described herein again.

Optionally, if the control information is mapped by the network devicebased on an index of the resource element set and an index of a resourceelement group included in the resource element set, the processing unitis configured to monitor the control channel of the terminal devicebased on the configuration information, the index of the resourceelement set, and the index of the resource element group included in theresource element set, to obtain the control information mapped to theone or more of the at least one resource element set.

Optionally, if the control information is mapped by the network devicebased on an index of the resource element set, the processing unit isconfigured to monitor the control channel of the terminal device basedon the configuration information and the index of the resource elementset, to obtain the control information mapped to the one or more of theat least one resource element set.

Optionally, if the control information is mapped by the network devicebased on an index of a resource element group included in the resourceelement set, the processing unit is configured to monitor the controlchannel of the terminal device based on the configuration informationand the index of the resource element group included in the resourceelement set, to obtain the control information mapped to the one or moreof the at least one resource element set.

Optionally, the index of the resource element set corresponds to asymbol and a subcarrier number of at least one resource element in theresource element set. Optionally, the index of the resource elementgroup corresponds to a symbol and a subcarrier number of at least oneresource element in the resource element group. Optionally, theconfiguration information further includes at least one of the followingcontent: indication information of a mapping manner for the controlinformation, where the mapping manner includes a time-first manner or afrequency-first manner; and a power ratio of control information to areference signal in a resource element set, to which the controlinformation is mapped, of the at least one resource element set.

Optionally, the monitoring, by the terminal device, the control channelbased on the configuration information, to obtain control informationmapped to one or more of the at least one resource element set includes:monitoring, by the terminal device, the control channel based on theconfiguration information, to obtain the control information mapped tothe one or more of the at least one resource element set, and obtain areference signal mapped to one or more resource elements in a resourceelement set including the control information.

It should be understood that the foregoing division of units is merelydivision of logical functions. In actual implementation, all or some ofthe units may be integrated into a physical entity, or may be physicallyseparated. In this embodiment of this application, the receiving unit701 and the sending unit 703 may be implemented by the transceiver 502,and the processing unit 702 may be implemented by the processor 501. Asshown in FIG. 6, the terminal device 500 may include the processor 501,the transceiver 502, and the memory 503. The memory 503 may beconfigured to store code used when the processor 501 executes asolution. The code may be a program/code pre-installed before deliveryof the terminal device 500.

The foregoing embodiments may be all or partially implemented bysoftware, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When beingimplemented by a software program, the embodiments may be all orpartially implemented in a form of a computer program product. Thecomputer program product includes one or more instructions. When thecomputer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, theprocedures or functions according to the embodiments of this applicationare all or partially generated. The computer may be a general-purposecomputer, a dedicated computer, a computer network, or otherprogrammable apparatuses. The instructions may be stored in a computerstorage medium or may be transmitted from a computer storage medium toanother computer storage medium. For example, the instructions may betransmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to anotherwebsite, computer, server, or data center in a wired (for example, acoaxial cable, an optical fiber, or a digital subscriber line (DSL)) orwireless (for example, infrared, radio, or microwave) manner. Thecomputer storage medium may be any usable medium accessible to acomputer, or a data storage device, such as a server or a data center,integrating one or more usable media. The usable medium may be amagnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetictape, or a magneto-optical disk (MO)), an optical medium (for example, aCD, a DVD, a BD, or an HVD), a semiconductor medium (for example, a ROM,an EPROM, an EEPROM, a non-volatile memory (NAND FLASH), or a solidstate disk (SSD)), or the like.

A person skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments ofthis application may be provided as a method, a system, or a computerprogram product. Therefore, the embodiments of this application may usea form of hardware only embodiments, software only embodiments, orembodiments with a combination of software and hardware. Moreover, theembodiments of this application may use a form of a computer programproduct that is implemented on one or more computer usable storage media(including but not limited to a disk memory, a CD-ROM, an opticalmemory, and the like) that include computer usable program code.

The embodiments of this application are described with reference to theflowcharts and/or block diagrams of the method, the device (system), andthe computer program product according to the embodiments of thisapplication. It should be understood that instructions may be used toimplement each process and/or each block in the flowcharts and/or theblock diagrams and a combination of a process and/or a block in theflowcharts and/or the block diagrams. These instructions may be providedfor a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, an embeddedprocessor, or a processor of any other programmable data processingdevice to generate a machine, so that the instructions executed by acomputer or a processor of any other programmable data processing devicegenerate an apparatus for implementing a specified function in one ormore processes in the flowcharts and/or in one or more blocks in theblock diagrams.

These instructions may be stored in a computer readable memory that caninstruct the computer or any other programmable data processing deviceto work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in thecomputer readable memory generate an artifact that includes aninstruction apparatus. The instruction apparatus implements a specifiedfunction in one or more processes in the flowcharts and/or in one ormore blocks in the block diagrams.

These instructions may be loaded onto a computer or another programmabledata processing device, so that a series of operations and steps areperformed on the computer or the another programmable device, therebygenerating computer-implemented processing. Therefore, the instructionsexecuted on the computer or the another programmable device providesteps for implementing a specified function in one or more processes inthe flowcharts and/or in one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

Apparently, a person skilled in the art can make various modificationsand variations to the embodiments of this application without departingfrom the spirit and scope of this application. Therefore, thisapplication is intended to cover these modifications and variations,provided that they fall within the scope of protection defined by thefollowing claims and their equivalent technologies.

1. A control information transmission method, wherein the methodcomprises: determining configuration information of a control channel,wherein the configuration information comprises at least one offrequency domain information or time domain information, the at leastone of frequency domain information or time domain information indicatesa time-frequency resource occupied by the control channel, and theconfiguration information further comprises indication informationindicating a quantity of at least one resource element set, wherein thetime-frequency resource occupied by the control channel comprises the atleast one resource element set; mapping control information to one ormore of the at least one resource element set based on the configurationinformation; sending the configuration information to a terminal device;and sending the control information to the terminal device.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the quantity indicated by theindication information is one of two resource element groups, threeresource element groups, or six resource element groups; and whereineach of the resource element groups occupies one orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing (OFDM) symbol in time domain, and occupies 12contiguous subcarriers in frequency domain.
 3. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the at least one resource element set comprises thequantity of contiguous resource element groups in the time domain. 4.The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the at least oneresource element set consists of two resource element groups, whereinthe two resource element groups occupy one OFDM symbol in the timedomain, and occupy two contiguous resource blocks in the frequencydomain.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the at leastone resource element set consists of six resource element groups,wherein the six resource element groups occupy one OFDM symbol in thetime domain, and occupy six contiguous resource blocks in the frequencydomain.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the at leastone resource element set consists of two resource element groups,wherein the two resource element groups occupy two contiguous OFDMsymbols in the time domain, and occupy one resource block in thefrequency domain.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein each ofthe at least one resource element set consists of six resource elementgroups, wherein the six resource element groups occupy two contiguousOFDM symbols in the time domain, and occupy three contiguous resourceblocks in the frequency domain.
 8. The method according to claim 1,wherein each of the at least one resource element set consists of threeresource element groups, wherein the three resource element groupsoccupy three contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, and occupy oneresource block in the frequency domain.
 9. The method according to claim1, wherein each of the at least one resource element set consists of sixresource element groups, wherein the six resource element groups occupythree contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, and occupy twocontiguous resource blocks in the frequency domain.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the configuration information is sent tothe terminal device by using radio resource control (RRC) signaling. 11.A control information transmission apparatus, wherein the apparatuscomprises: a storage medium including executable instructions; and aprocessor; wherein the executable instructions, when executed by theprocessor, cause the apparatus to: determine configuration informationof a control channel, wherein the configuration information comprises atleast one of frequency domain information or time domain information,the at least one of frequency domain information or time domaininformation indicates a time-frequency resource occupied by the controlchannel, and the configuration information further comprises indicationinformation indicating a quantity of at least one resource element set,wherein the time-frequency resource occupied by the control channelcomprises the at least one resource element set; map control informationto one or more of the at least one resource element set based on theconfiguration information; and send the configuration information to aterminal device; and send the control information to the terminaldevice.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the quantityindicated by the indication information is one of two resource elementgroups, three resource element groups, or six resource element groups;and wherein each of the resource element groups occupies one OFDM symbolin time domain, and occupies 12 contiguous subcarriers in frequencydomain.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the at leastone resource element set comprises the quantity of contiguous resourceelement groups in the time domain.
 14. The apparatus according to claim11, wherein each of the at least one resource element set consists oftwo resource element groups, wherein the two resource element groupsoccupy one OFDM symbol in the time domain, and occupy two contiguousresource blocks in the frequency domain.
 15. The apparatus according toclaim 11, wherein each of the at least one resource element set consistsof six resource element groups, wherein the six resource element groupsoccupy one OFDM symbol in the time domain, and occupy six contiguousresource blocks in the frequency domain.
 16. The apparatus according toclaim 11, wherein each of the at least one resource element set consistsof two resource element groups, wherein the two resource element groupsoccupy two contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, and occupy oneresource block in the frequency domain.
 17. The apparatus according toclaim 11, wherein each of the at least one resource element set consistsof six resource element groups, wherein the six resource element groupsoccupy two contiguous OFDM symbols in the time domain, and occupy threecontiguous resource blocks in the frequency domain.
 18. The apparatusaccording to claim 11, wherein each of the at least one resource elementset consists of three resource element groups, wherein the threeresource element groups occupy three contiguous OFDM symbols in the timedomain, and occupy one resource block in the frequency domain.
 19. Theapparatus according to claim 11, wherein each of the at least oneresource element set consists of six resource element groups, whereinthe six resource element groups occupy three contiguous OFDM symbols inthe time domain, and occupy two contiguous resource blocks in thefrequency domain.
 20. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein theconfiguration information is sent to the terminal device by using RRCsignaling.